Nail art concept stock Convano crosses borders and makes a heavy bet on Bitcoin, triggering a BTC buying spree among Japanese listed companies

By Nancy, PANews

Following the success of hotel-focused MetaPlanet, which created a flywheel effect with its bold Bitcoin reserve strategy, a growing number of Japanese companies are following suit. The latest crossover player to emerge is nail salon chain Convano Inc., which recently announced a significant investment in Bitcoin, aiming to hold 21,000 BTC within two years. Its stock price surged in response.

Nail Art Company Launches Bitcoin Reserve Strategy, Claiming to Capture 0.1% of Global Stock

On July 17, Convano officially announced its entry into the field of encrypted assets and officially launched its Bitcoin reserve strategy.

It is understood that Convano is a listed company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It was established in 2007 and is mainly engaged in nail salon and media businesses, including multiple nail brands such as FASTNAIL, FASTNAIL PLUS, FASTNAIL LOCO and CONST. It has about 50 directly operated and franchised nail salons in Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ginza. It has recently begun to deploy encryption and AI data tracks.

Convano explained in its announcement that, with rising prices and increasing exchange rate fluctuations in recent years, the importance of inflation resilience and currency diversification in business operations has grown. As a response, the company is using Bitcoin as an inflation hedge and store of value to strengthen the stability of its financial structure and protect against potential losses in purchasing power due to the growth of its core Japanese yen business.

To ensure the effective execution of this strategy, Convano also announced the establishment of a dedicated Bitcoin Strategy Office, led by Taiyo Azuma, a director with experience in early-stage crypto asset investments, to comprehensively coordinate investment planning and risk control.

Subsequently, Convano announced financing of 1.5 billion yen (about 10.1 million US dollars) and 2 billion yen (about 13.54 million US dollars) to purchase more Bitcoin.

Earlier this month, Convano announced plans to hold 21,000 bitcoins, or about 0.1% of the total bitcoin supply, by the end of March 2027 over three phases. The goals are: 2,000 bitcoins by the end of December 2025, 10,000 by the end of August 2026, and finally 21,000 by the end of March 2027.

To support the initial phase of this plan, the company announced the issuance of a third tranche of 2 billion yen in ordinary bonds, which will be used for the next round of purchases. Convano also reiterated in this announcement that it views Bitcoin as a defensive asset, not an aggressive investment for short-term speculation or profit. Convano also revealed that it has established a monitoring mechanism to track the potential impact of Bitcoin asset fluctuations on its performance and pledged to disclose relevant information promptly when necessary.

Since July, Convano has invested a total of 2.9 billion yen (approximately $19.7 million) and holds 164.93 bitcoins. Following the announcement of its Bitcoin reserve strategy, Convano's stock price surged as much as 78.76%, reaching a new all-time high. Amidst market optimism, Convano recently raised its financial outlook for the fiscal year ending March 2026, raising sales revenue to 7.16 billion yen (an increase of 160 million yen from its previous forecast) and operating profit to 1.52 billion yen (an increase of 520 million yen from its previous forecast).

Policies, the economy, and market sentiment resonate, with cryptocurrencies becoming a hot topic in Japanese stocks.

Since MetaPlanet became popular, crypto assets such as Bitcoin are becoming new financial tools for Japanese companies to attract funds, gain attention, and hedge risks.

According to data from Bitcointreasuries.net, Japanese companies now hold nine of the top 100 publicly traded companies with the largest Bitcoin holdings, placing Japan among the top five countries for corporate Bitcoin reserves, behind only the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and China. In the past few months alone, several Japanese companies have announced their active embrace of Bitcoin, including publicly listed Remixpoint, fashion brand ANAP, AI company Quantum Solutions, Japanese textile materials company Kitabo, and national clothing chain Mac House.

The fact that crypto-treasury has become a hot topic for Japanese companies is not accidental, but is driven by multiple factors.

On the one hand, Japan's crypto-asset tax system has long been considered excessively burdensome. Under current regulations, all cryptocurrency gains, whether through trading, mining, or other means, are considered miscellaneous income and subject to a combined tax rate of up to 55% (including a 10% inhabitant tax), placing a heavy burden on investors and businesses.

To ease this pressure, Japan's ruling party has proposed lowering the tax rate on crypto asset gains to a uniform 20%, bringing it in line with the capital gains tax rate for traditional financial assets such as stocks, and allowing losses to be carried forward over three years and used to offset future profits. This reform is expected to simplify the tax structure and lower the barrier to entry into the crypto market.

In contrast, stock investing in Japan enjoys several tax advantages. For example, capital gains tax is fixed at approximately 20%, and the government has recently promoted the NISA (Narrow Investment Tax Exemption System), a tax incentive system that allows investment income of up to 3.6 million yen per year to be completely tax-free. This policy has significantly stimulated a surge in stock investment in Japan and boosted market activity.

This also explains, to some extent, why more and more Japanese investors are turning to crypto stocks. For businesses, the allocation of crypto assets is gradually shifting from early speculative operations to more forward-looking strategic asset allocations. Especially in Japan's retail-dominated market structure, investment sentiment has a strong driving force on market trends, further stimulating corporate interest in and demand for the crypto market.

Metaplanet's successful strategic transformation offers a valuable example for other companies. After transforming into the Japanese equivalent of Strategy, the struggling budget hotel management company's aggressive Bitcoin reserve strategy saw its value skyrocket. According to Bitcointreasuries.net, as of August 5th, Metaplanet held over 17,000 Bitcoins, making it the seventh-largest publicly listed company in terms of Bitcoin reserves. Its success provides a practical template for other Japanese companies facing transformation pressures.

Furthermore, Japan's current economic landscape is sluggish, with high national debt and the yen continuing to depreciate, prompting businesses to seek alternative asset hedges. Bitcoin's continued rise to new highs has further solidified its status as digital gold. Especially amidst the global currency oversupply, Bitcoin is increasingly viewed by Japanese companies as a key means of hedging risk and diversifying their asset allocations. Furthermore, Japan's policies have also created a favorable environment for businesses to invest in Bitcoin. For example, Japan has recognized cryptocurrencies as a legal means of payment, recently proposed a proposal to designate crypto assets as financial products under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, and is considering approving a Bitcoin spot ETF. This will provide greater convenience and legitimacy for institutional investors entering the market.

Overall, Japanese companies are rapidly becoming core players in the global crypto market due to a combination of tax system optimization, corporate restructuring pressure, macroeconomic uncertainty, regulatory friendliness, and global trends. Of course, market fear of loss (FOMO) has also accelerated the penetration of crypto assets like Bitcoin into the Japanese capital market.